Is Psoriasis All You Have?

In writing this blog I focus mainly on living with psoriasis. But as you probably already know, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis patients may also have a host of other health conditions. Most recently I had a nasty bout of colitis. It’s been almost a month and I still haven’t fully recovered. Although I don’t believe my psoriasis caused the colitis, my psoriasis predictably broke out during the illness. For the first two weeks, I had to stop my immune suppression medications Enbrel (etanercept) and Neoral (cyclosporine). Besides psoriasis, I have other health concerns and ailments — namely eczema, asthma, insomnia, a rare cornea disease (a condition corrective glasses cannot correct), digestive challenges, recurring infections, and bouts of low-level depression.

Lately a lot of the research I read points to psoriasis having associated health conditions. One of the more “sensitive” possible links to psoriasis is erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a study published in the January issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine. I suppose this is a PG-rated blog so I won’t comment any further on this one! Another recent news item linked psoriasis to a greater risk for blocked arteries, this one published in the American Journal of Cardiology. The bad news for me is that the risk is higher for people who have had psoriasis longer.

The seemingly endless stream of studies tying psoriasis to other conditions only heightens the potential anxiety already felt by someone with psoriasis. Who thought having psoriasis could increase the risk to have congestive heart failure, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or depression? Whether psoriasis contributes to these other conditions or the other conditions somehow cause or worsen psoriasis remains to be seen.

For now psoriasis is my main concern. It’s the health condition that speaks the loudest for attention. As I get older (sadly, my own kids and the young adults I work with remind me incessantly of how I am no longer young!), I do wonder if another ailment will take first place in my mind. Until then I will no doubt relate other nagging health concerns, like colitis or a skin infection, to psoriasis management.

All this to say that living with psoriasis is not so simple for many of us. When I hear the voices of dismissive people in my past who have said, “It’s only a skin rash,” or “It won’t kill you,” I want to scream at them through time and space that clearly they are wrong. Psoriasis is not all I have to contend with when it comes to my health.

Have you experienced complications or difficulties in managing more than psoriasis in your life?

Get the latest health updates

Thanks for signing up!

Oops!

A system error was encountered. Please try again later.

Follow us on your favorite social network!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Howard Chang

Rev. Howard Chang has lived with severe psoriasis and eczema for more than 35 years, since childhood. In addition to actively blogging and tweeting about skin-related concerns, he volunteers for the National...read more